UpRooted Media

08/30/2026

Sunday August 30th at 2pm! Annual Slovak Americans of Washington and Oregon Picnic!
Hope to see you there!!

08/14/2026

A little documentary update! 🎬

The documentary is now in the FINAL quality-assurance phase! (Trust me, this is HUGE!)

We are refining sound, improving image quality, replacing lower-resolution archival materials, confirming credits, and making all those final adjustments before "Slovakia in the South: The Legacy of Slovaktown, Arkansas" is ready for an audience.

That also means participants in the film will soon be contacted to confirm their information for the credits and, in some cases, to see if higher-quality versions of photos or other materials are available.

And it means it’s time to start thinking about a Slovaktown screening date!

My first attempts at suggesting dates were, apparently, smack dab in the middle of harvest. You would think growing up surrounded by farmland would have seared that into my brain, but… here we are. 😂🌾 On the bright side, that gave me some extra cushion for the quality-assurance phase! 😮‍💨

So, Slovaktown folks: start thinking about what dates/timing might work best for a hometown screening. One other thing to keep in mind as we toss around dates: I do work a full-time job that is unrelated to the work I do with Slovak heritage, so we’ll need to find something that works around my work schedule as well. That shouldn’t be too much of a barrier as long as we have enough time to plan ahead.

We also have some exciting news: the Slovak Embassy, in conjunction with the Slovak American Society of Washington, D.C., has already requested a screening, which they are planning for October! 🇸🇰 Details are still being worked out, but as soon as everything is confirmed, we’ll share all the information.

Learn more and donate at
www.uprooted-media.com

04/30/2026

We’re excited to share that UpRooted Media will be presenting at University of Arkansas-Little Rock’s Arkansas Immigrant Stories and you’re invited.

Film Director Deah Partak will discuss Slovak-Arkansan heritage, UpRooted Media’s work on the Slovakia in the South documentary film and our collaboration with the Slovaktown community.

We’re honored to join a panel from across Arkansas, each sharing the stories and legacies of diverse immigrant communities. While she won’t be there in person, she will be joining virtually.

This event comes as we move toward the 2026 release of Slovakia in the South: The Legacy of Slovaktown, Arkansas.

We’ll share highlights from the film and explore how storytelling preserves history, strengthens identity, and supports the long term prosperity of immigrant communities.

If you care about heritage, community, or documenting the stories that matter, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

📍 University of Arkansas Little Rock; 333 President Clinton Ave, Little Rock
📅 May 6, 2026
⏰ 5:30 PM

Come be part of the conversation and connect with others doing this work.

03/01/2026

Join the Uprooted Team!

UpRooted is looking for a Social Media Content Creator who is rooted in Slovak culture and wants to help share the living stories, traditions, and history of our community.

You will be the creative voice and cultural storyteller, working closely with our Social Media Lead Volunteer, who will handle the scheduling and publishing.

This is not a posting or scheduling role. Your role is to help gather, write, and shape the content itself, so a strong understanding of Slovak culture, heritage, and community is essential.

This is an opportunity to help uplift Slovak and Slovak diaspora voices, celebrate our shared history, and support the full work of UpRooted Media, from cultural events and archives to education and outreach.

What You’ll Do:
- Help identify meaningful cultural stories, traditions, and highlights from our community

- Create written posts, captions, and visual or short-form content that reflects Slovak heritage, identity, and Uprooted events / information

- Collaborate with our Social Media Lead Volunteer, who will take what you create and publish it across our platforms

- Share content that celebrates Slovak language, food, crafts, history, and the people keeping it alive

- Help us grow our presence in a way that feels authentic, warm, and culturally grounded

Who This Is For:
- Someone who is personally connected to Slovak culture and heritage

- Someone who enjoys storytelling, writing, and content creation

- Someone comfortable working collaboratively with a volunteer team

- Someone who wants to help preserve and celebrate Slovak identity through media

- This role is perfect for someone who wants to use their cultural knowledge and creativity to help our community stay visible, connected, and thriving.

If interested contact Deah Partak [email protected] and Kim Charlson [email protected]

Learn more about Uprooted at www.uprooted-media.com

02/18/2026

We are so lucky to have the Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie as a supporter, contributor, and friend of the Slovaktown documentary.

Thank you for everything you do for Slovaktown and all the unique communities of the Grand Prairie!

02/18/2026

Slovaktown Heritage Day 2026 was a wonderful celebration of culture, community, family, and heritage.

Mary Ann Hill, Stephanie Leach, and Paula Hooks put together a warm and celebratory event that would make their ancestors proud.

Slovaktown’s founding in 1894 set Arkansas on track to be the number one rice producer in America AND making Slovaktown probably the most Slovaks per capita!!

We are so excited to help bring this community’s amazing history and living legacy to the big screen!

Stay tune as we come closer and closer to release!

Help support us to get this film finished and screened across the world!
www.uprooted-media.com

02/18/2026

Thank you greatly Kasigarda. Múzeum vysťahovalectva z územia Slovenska do Severnej Ameriky

We at Uprooted are very impressed with your museum and are grateful for your efforts and willingness to spread and preserve so many of our Slovak-American stories back in the homeland. ❤️

Dnes sme v Kasigarde natáčali pre UpRooted media pre ich dokument o meste Slovaktown v štáte Arkansas! Kristínka Horinková bola veľmi prekvapená širokosťou slovenského kultúrneho dedičstva v Amerike, ktoré v Kasigarde uchovávame :)

02/14/2026

The man, the myth, the legend. Al Bednar(91) is the grandson of one of Slovaktown’s founding residents.

Not only that but he is the person who gets most all the credit for the birth of the Slovakia in South Documentary.

In early 2022, Al’s social media post of a family member in a Slovaktown baseball uniform started a beautiful friendship with Deah Partak. Their many conversations sparked the idea to make a documentary about Al’s cultural unique hometown.

Support us in bringing the documentary to life and learn more!
www.uprooted-media.com

Uprooted Media is a nonprofit promoting multicultural awareness and representation in history and media for the prosperity of the current and future generations

02/14/2026

It’s one of my most favorite times of the year, Slovaktown Heritage Weekend!

While Saturday (starting at 2pm) is all about celebration, Sunday and Monday will be focused on filming our final “visual storytelling” for Slovakia in the South. These are the everyday family and community moments that really bring a documentary to life.

It feels fitting that these final shots are happening this weekend as Heritage Day 2023 was the inaugural filming trip.

Sadly, that 2023 trip was a weather disaster! Camera crew snowed in, I was trapped at the airport for 48-hours, and hopes for production support was lost.

Yet despite many barriers, the town’s love and trust in my vision for their documentary made me decide not to give up.

Slovaktown’s historical and current resiliency was so inspiring that we formed Uprooted Media to make sure their real story gets recorded. Almost 3 years on and we can see the homestretch for the documentary!!

Your trust in a random loud, often joyfully-tearful, unknown Slovak-American back in 2023 set something beautiful in motion 🥰

With so much love, gratitude, and awe- Deah

Uprooted Media is a nonprofit promoting multicultural awareness and representation in history and media for the prosperity of the current and future generations

Support us and learn more!
www.uprooted-media.com

10/28/2025

🇸🇰✨ Day of the Establishment of an Independent Czecho-Slovak State ✨🇨🇿

On October 28, 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, the Czech and Slovak peoples declared their independence and formed a new state, Czechoslovakia.

This wasn’t just a political act, it was a cultural milestone. For generations, Slovaks and Czechs had lived under outside rule, often with limits on language, education, and self-governance. The birth of Czechoslovakia meant the chance to shape their own democratic and cultural future.

📜 Did you know?
🇺🇸 The idea of the new republic was first outlined in America where Czech and Slovak immigrant leaders signed the Pittsburgh Agreement on May 31, 1918, promising Slovakia its own administration and schools within the future state.

👨‍🏫 The country’s first president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, had spent years abroad gathering support from Allied nations for independence.

🎓 By 1930, Czechoslovakia had one of the highest literacy rates in Europe and became one of the most democratic and industrially advanced countries between the wars.

For Slovak Americans, this anniversary connects both sides of the ocean, from Pittsburgh’s immigrant halls to the farmlands of Slovaktown, Arkansas, reminding us that our community’s story is deeply woven into the global movement for freedom and cultural identity.

🕯️ Let’s keep this story alive.
Share this post to help more people learn how Slovak and Czech immigrants helped shape the course of modern Europe and the communities they built in America.
💬 Tag a friend or group preserving Slovak or Czech heritage today!

📚 Learn More About:
🔹 The Pittsburgh Agreement (1918) - ExplorePAhistory http://bit.ly/4nk8VtJ
🔹 Masaryk and the United States - Czech Center Museum Houston http://bit.ly/4oI9jnc
🔹 Expanded History of Slovakia - A History of Slovakia: The struggle for survival http://bit.ly/4o7jHVk

Learn More and Support Slovak Stories
www.uprooted-media.com